AUTOMAKERS
US deal creates barriers
Unions at South Korea’s two largest automakers, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, say plans to revise a free-trade deal with the US involve concessions that would prevent local automakers from entering the fast-growing US pick-up truck market. Hyundai’s labor union yesterday said that the South Korean government gave in to US President Donald Trump at a time when the US market represents big opportunities. Kia’s labor union said it shares that view. Hyundai said in a statement that it hoped the two governments would work together to defuse trade tensions. South Korea and the US agreed to push back the earlier agreed-to elimination of import tariffs on pick-up trucks by 20 years to 2041.
CHEMICALS
Akzo Nobel to sell unit
Akzo Nobel NV is selling its specialty chemicals unit to US private equity firm Carlyle Group for 10.1 billion euros (US$12.5 billion) in a deal set to transform the Dutch company into a supplier of paints and coatings, chief executive officer Thierry Vanlancker said yesterday. Carlyle and Singapore sovereign-wealth partner GIC edged out rivals by agreeing to keep the business intact and giving assurances on workers’ salaries and benefits. “Different bids had different dimensions,” Vanlancker said. “Carlyle saw it as a strong business as a whole.” The sale caps a turbulent period for the Dutch manufacturer marked by a US$29 billion hostile takeover attempt last year by rival PPG Industries Inc and the attention of activist investor Elliott Management. Vanlancker, who sought to keep Akzo Nobel’s future in its own hands, will now have to make good on ambitious financial targets set for 2020.
RETAIL
Amazon targets France
Amazon.com Inc is taking aim at France, securing a delivery deal in Paris with Casino Guichard Perrachon SA that shakes up one of Europe’s most competitive grocery markets. Items from Casino’s Monoprix stores are to be sold via the Amazon Prime Now app in the French capital and the surrounding region, the companies said on Monday. The move comes as Amazon pushes further into the food business in Europe and as price competition among Casino, Carrefour SA and family-owned Leclerc heats up in France. Casino’s deal with Amazon is a “very defensive move,” aimed at protecting Monoprix from Leclerc, Fabienne Caron, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, said in a note to clients.
BANKING
Deutsche Bank tensions rise
Deutsche Bank AG is considering candidates to potentially replace chief executive officer John Cryan amid heightened tensions between him and Supervisory Board chairman Paul Achleitner, the Times of London reported without saying where it got the information. The bank approached Richard Gnodde, the head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s international operations, but he is thought to have spurned the overture, the newspaper said. Deutsche Bank also considered UniCredit SpA CEO Jean Pierre Mustier and Standard Chartered PLC CEO Bill Winters, according to the report. “Cryan may be a good person, but he’s not the right guy on top of Deutsche Bank,” said Stefan Mueller, CEO of the German Institute for Asset and Equity Allocation and Valuation in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Still, “I think the main problem at Deutsche Bank is Paul Achleitner, he implemented all these CEOs in the last years.”
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
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